Willie Dion Mitchell III (born 1975) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. In high school, he was the 1994 Mr. Basketball of Michigan. He attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

before becoming a professional. He has had multiple stints in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) and various foreign basketball leagues. He was a passenger in the rollover accident whose investigation led to the

University of Michigan basketball scandal The University of Michigan basketball scandal, or the Ed Martin scandal, concerned National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) rules violations resulting from the relationship between the University of Michigan (or Michigan), its men's baske ...

High school

The Mitchell earned the 1994 Mr. Basketball of Michigan title after leading

Detroit Pershing High School John J. Pershing High School is a four-year public high school in Detroit, Michigan. It is in Conant Gardens in proximity to the residential areas Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Unlike ma ...

(MHSAA) Class A basketball championships in 1992 and 1993 as well as a runner-up finish in 1994. During his time at Pershing the team accumulated a 92–11 record. He averaged 21.9 points and 11

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

during his senior season, but the team lost to

Detroit Public School League The Detroit Public School League (PSL) is a high school conference based in the city of Detroit, Michigan and is governed by Detroit Public Schools Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the c ...

rival

Robert Traylor Robert DeShaun "Tractor" Traylor (February 1, 1977 – May 11, 2011) was an American professional basketball player. He got his nickname because of his hulking frame. Traylor was the sixth pick in the 1998 NBA draft and played seven seasons in th ...

's Detroit Murray–Wright High School in the MHSAA championships. He was named both

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

and Magic's Roundball Classic selections during his senior season. He was named ''

Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...

'' All-State his sophomore (4th team), junior and senior seasons.

College

He was part of a highly touted

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the College basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nation ...

recruiting class dubbed Fab Five II or Frosh Five that included

Maurice Taylor Maurice De Shawn Taylor (born October 30, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played power forward and center positions. Originally from Detroit, Taylor played college basketball at Michigan and was selected by the L ...

Jerod Ward Jerod Davanta Ward (born May 5, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player, who played shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center positions. Currently, Ward is a TEDx & Motivational Keynote Speaker, Consultant, Coach an ...

Maceo Baston Maceo Demond Baston (born May 29, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at the University of Michigan. At a playing height of , and a playing weight of , he played at the power forward position. ...

, and Travis Conlan and that entered Michigan during the senior season of

Jimmy King Jimmy Hal King (born August 9, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. King played in the NBA and other leagues. He is most famous for his time spent on the famed University of Michigan Wolverines Fab Five along with Ray Ja ...

and Ray Jackson (the only two original Fab Five members who did not declare early for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

). During his sophomore 1995–1996 season he missed seven games between December 5, 1995–January 3, 1996 to a knee injury. After returning to the lineup, he was a passenger in the February 17, 1996 rollover accident whose investigation led to the

. Although he was involved in the accident, he was not among the players called before the

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

(

Chris Webber Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III (born March 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Drafted number one overall by the Orlando Magic, though arguably best known and remembered as the star forward for the Sacramento Ki ...

Jalen Rose Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973) is an American sports analyst and former professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' " Fab Five" (along with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy K ...

, and

Louis Bullock Louis "Lou" Bullock, Jr. (born May 20, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Although his records have officially been vacated, due to the University of Michigan basketball scandal, his vacated records are unsurpassed for mo ...

) and was not found to have received large amounts of money. He and Ward were 1994

McDonald's All-American Team The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

members and the following season 1995 McDonald's All-Americans Bullock, Traylor, and Albert White would also join Michigan. He had started the last three games prior to his knee injury after having started only five of the first thirty-five games of his Michigan career. After returning from the injury, he only started two of eighteen games. Willie Mitchell transferred to the

UAB Blazers men's basketball The UAB Blazers men's basketball team represents the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the NCAA Division I men's college basketball, and have competed in Conference USA (C-USA) since 1995. History The UAB Blazers started their athlet ...

team after the 1996 season.

Professional

He was drafted in the 1999 CBA draft by the

Yakama Sun Kings The Yakima SunKings are a basketball team located in Yakima, Washington, covering the central Washington sports market of Yakima, Tri-Cities, and Ellensburg and plays at the Yakima SunDome. The team competed in the Continental Basketball Associ ...

. He played one season for the Kings before playing professionally in Europe and Asia until 2006. In 2006, he played in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

before returning to the CBA in 2007 where he played for the

Minot Skyrockets The Minot SkyRockets were a team in the Continental Basketball Association. They played their home games at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The team began play in 2005 as the San Jose Skyrockets of the American Basketball Association (2000–pre ...

. He most recently played for the

Quad City Riverhawks The Quad City Riverhawks were a team of the Premier Basketball League that previously played in the modern American Basketball Association (ABA). History The team began play as a member of the ABA in 2006. The team played at the Activities Cen ...

in 2008. Among the other teams he has played for are the Hong Kong Flying Dragons of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

, Vantaa Pussihukat of the

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

, and AZS Koszalin of the Dominet Basket Liga. He has also been affiliated with

San Diego Stingrays The San Diego Stingrays were a charter member of International Basketball League (IBL) and played at the San Diego Sports Arena and was owned by online sports gaming entrepreneur Scott Atkins. The following season, the team returned to San Diego un ...

of the

International Basketball Association The International Basketball Association (IBA) was founded in 1995 by a group of businessmen led by Tom Anderson. The original owners of franchises in the league were George Daniel (Black Hills Posse-Rapid City, SD), John Korsmo, Al Gardner, and A ...

and the

Detroit Wheels The Detroit Wheels were an American football team, a charter member of the defunct World Football League. Founding Soon after Gary Davidson announced the WFL's formation in October 1973, he was approached by a man named Bud Hucul about putting ...

of the

Notes

External links

College career statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Willie 1975 births Living people African-American basketball players Basketball players from Detroit Forwards (basketball) McDonald's High School All-Americans Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) San Diego Stingrays players Pershing High School alumni UAB Blazers men's basketball players American men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople